Today the Worldwatch
Institute launches its flagship publication, State
of the World 2011: Innovations that Nourish the Planet in
New York City. The report spotlights successful agricultural innovations and
unearths major successes in preventing food waste, building resilience to
climate change, and strengthening farming in cities. The press launch--the first
of several release events being held in New York and DC this month--will feature
remarks from Nourishing the Planet co-Directors Brian Halweil and Danielle
Nierenberg; contributing authors Stephanie Hanson of the
One Acre Fund and the Small Planet
Institute's Anna Lappe'; as well as Worldwatch President Christopher
Flavin.

It's nearly a half-century since the Green Revolution and yet a
large share of the human family is still chronically hungry. Since the mid
1980s when agricultural funding was at its height, the share of global development
aid has fallen from over 16 percent to just 4 percent today. Drawing from the
world's leading agricultural experts and from hundreds of innovations that are
already working on the ground, State of the World 2011 will help serve as a
road map for the funding and development communities.

Over the last year, the Nourishing the Planet project has traveled
to 25 sub-Saharan African nations--the places where hunger is the greatest and
rural communities have struggled the most--to hear people's stories of hope and
success in agriculture. Africa has among the most persistent problems with
malnutrition, but it also a rich and diverse breeding ground for innovations in
agriculture. From oyster farmers in The Gambia to school gardens in Uganda to
rotational grazing in Zimbabwe, State of the World 2011 draws from hundreds of
case studies and first-person examples to offer solutions to reducing hunger
and poverty.

In The Gambia, some 6,000 women organized into the TRY
Women's Oyster Harvesting Producer Association, creating a
sustainable co-management plan for the local oyster fishery to prevent
overharvesting and exploitation. The 15 communities, comprising nearly 6,000
people, agreed to close one tributary in their oyster territories for an entire
year and to lengthen the "closed" season in other areas. They are also working
together to educate the community about the benefits of mangrove restoration
and building hatcheries to boost wild stocks. The improved quality and size of
the resulting harvests are garnering higher prices at local markets, and the
association is working on developing relationships with upscale hotels and
restaurants that are interested in buying wholesale.

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In Uganda, Developing
Innovations in School Cultivation (DISC) program is integrating
indigenous vegetable gardens, nutrition information, and food preparation into
school curricula to teach children how to grow local crop varieties that will
help combat food shortages and revitalize the country's culinary traditions. As
a result, these students grow up with more respect--and excitement--about
farming. At Sirapollo Kaggwass Secondary School, Mary Naku, a 19 year-old
student, who is learning farming skills from DISC, said that she has gained
leadership and farming skills. "As youth we have learned to grow fruits and
vegetables," she says, "to support our lives."

And in South Africa and Kenya, pastoralists are preserving
indigenous varieties of livestock that are adapted to the heat and drought of
local conditions--traits that will be crucial as climate extremes on the
continent worsen. In Maralal in the Northern region of Kenya, one group of
Maasai pastoralists is working with the Africa LIFE Network to increase their
rights as keepers of both genetic diversity and the land. Jacob
Wanyama, coordinator for the African LIFE Network and advisor to the
Nourishing the Planet Project, says Anikole cattle--a breed indigenous to
Eastern Africa and traditionally used by pastoralists in the area for
centuries--are not only "beautiful to look at," but they're one of the "highest
quality" breeds. They can survive in extremely harsh, dry conditions--something
that's more important than ever as climate change takes a bigger hold on
Africa. "Governments need to recognize," says Wanyama, "that pastoralists are
the best keepers of genetic diversity."

Launched today at WNYC's
The Greene Space, the report includes a chapter on reducing food
waste written by food activist Tristram Stewart, as well as chapter on how
addressing the unique needs of women farmers, who in many parts of the
continent represent 80 percent of small scale farmers, can improve livelihoods
and diets for entire communities, written by Dianne Forte, Royce Gloria Androa
and Marie-Ange Binwaho. State
of the World 2011 provides new insight into the
under-appreciated innovations that are working right now on the ground to
alleviate hunger and deserving of more funding and attention.

Danielle Nierenberg, an expert on livestock and sustainability, currently serves as Project Director of Nourishing the Planet for the Worldwatch Institute, a Washington, DC-based environmental think tank. Her knowledge of factory farming and its (more...)